Success with high-quality pet food

"Our good results are attributable above all to a strong first quarter," says Animonda managing director Reinhard Kolonko. In the subsequent months, the upward trend continued smoothly, so that the specialist retail subsidiary of pet food manufacturer Saturn Pet Food will end the year with double-digit growth in sales. Animonda is based in Osnabrück. It employs 28 people and is heading for sales of € 30 mio. Domestic sales account for 80 per cent of the company's overall sales. Animonda also exports to over 30 countries worldwide, with Poland, Austria and Switzerland as its main customers. The company is hoping for great things from its future operations in Russia, where it has got a new distribution partner. It also foresees good prospects for the future in Japan. In Germany, the company's products are delivered from the logistics centre in Bad Iburg to the wholesale trade and directly to speciality chains. Animonda currently has access to 4 500 pallet spaces at the logistics centre. Speciality retail partners are looked after by six field sales staff, and a further specialist adviser takes care of customers in the breeding field together with an outside commercial agent. The company's products are aimed primarily at pet owners who attach great importance to feeding their pets a healthy diet. "We want to offer top-quality pet food that has a positive influence on the health of dogs and cats, but without having any therapeutic effect," explains Reinhard Kolonko. Accounting for almost 60 per cent of sales, cat food is the dominant product at Animonda. Dog food accounts for almost 40 per cent, while the companion bird food brand "Kaytee" and pond food brand "Hikari", which Animonda distributes in Germany, are responsible for just under 5 per cent of sales. Animonda's strength undoubtedly lies in the moist food segment, although it is experiencing growth in the dry food segment too. All moist food products are manufactured at Saturn Pet Food in Bremen. The dry food products come from a European pet food manufacturer. Success with diet foods The diet food programme launched four years ago under the "Integra Protect" brand is working well for Animonda. The line was developed as a targeted dietetic treatment for health problems in dogs and cats. "Integra Protect" concentrates for both groups of pets on indications of obesity, renal insufficiency, intestinal problems (acute diarrhoea) and struvite (prevention in the case of a tendency to the formation of urinary…